Previewing the 3rd 2024 Republican Presidential Debate

On Wednesday night, the third 2024 Republican presidential debate will be held in Miami, Florida, hosted by NBC News (Lean Left bias) and moderated by Lester Holt and Kristen Welker of NBC News, and conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt. 

The Candidates: The five candidates who have qualified for the debate are Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. According to a pre-debate poll by FiveThirtyEight (Center bias), expectations are highest for DeSantis and Haley. The Republican frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, will not be attending and will instead hold a rally in nearby Hialeah, a critical part of South Florida's influential Cuban-American community.

The Issues: Republican primary voters are likely to care most about getting inflation under control, border security, keeping America safe from foreign conflicts or terrorism, and cutting government spending. These likely voters will also look for the candidate who they think has the best chance of beating President Joe Biden.

How the Media Covered it: The Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) focused on the need to address "wokeism" in higher education in light of pro-Palestinian demonstrations and antisemitism on college campuses. NPR (Lean Left bias) noted that Trump hasn't met the qualifying standards for the debates since he hasn't pledged to support whoever wins the nomination.